State mum about potential changes to tipped minimum wage

No action six months after hearings conclude

Christine Elms, a sever and bartender at Adirondack Pub and Brewery in Lake George, center, joins fellow restaurant workers and business owners during a press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan to eliminate the stateOs tip credit on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. Tip credit is the amount between what a tipped employee makes and what the established minimum wage is. Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the Commissioner of Labor to set up public hearings to look at the possibility of eliminating minimum wage tip credits across the state. (Will Waldron/Times Union) less

Christine Elms, a sever and bartender at Adirondack Pub and Brewery in Lake George, center, joins fellow restaurant workers and business owners during a press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan ... more

Christine Elms, a sever and bartender at Adirondack Pub and Brewery in Lake George, center, joins fellow restaurant workers and business owners during a press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan to eliminate the stateOs tip credit on Friday, May 18, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. Tip credit is the amount between what a tipped employee makes and what the established minimum wage is. Gov. Andrew Cuomo directed the Commissioner of Labor to set up public hearings to look at the possibility of eliminating minimum wage tip credits across the state. (Will Waldron/Times Union) less

Christine Elms, a sever and bartender at Adirondack Pub and Brewery in Lake George, center, joins fellow restaurant workers and business owners during a press conference to demonstrate against a proposed plan ... more

The lack of action comes as the general minimum wage in upstate of $10.40 an hour is set to increase to $11.10 in the new year. The minimum hourly tipped wage for the region is $7.50 and isn't scheduled to increase until 2020.

Jill Aurora, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Labor, said "the next step is for the commissioner to publish notice of proposed rule-making in the state register, which identifies specific changes and solicits public comment on those changes."

But it's not clear whether the department will exercise its ability to raise the hourly minimum wage for tipped workers, as Aurora said the department is still reviewing the feedback it received.

For opponents of an increase, though, no action is better than the alternative.

Michael Kracker, executive director of the business-backed Unshackle Upstate, is hoping the inaction is a response to the concerns raised during the 40 hours of testimony and 3,000 comments received by the department.

"Maybe they are looking to revisit this when fewer people are paying attention or it's a reaction to the initial blow back," he said.

Kracker prefers the department put the issue to rest, although the possibility of legislative action is looming with Democrats set to wrest control of the state Senate on Jan. 1.

Still, many advocates had assumed the issue would be resolved quickly after the governor forcefully supported the increase last year when calling for hearings.

Cuomo didn't bring up the tipped wage issue in a 2019 priorities' address earlier this month, but there is an expectation that he might raise it during his third-term inaugural address scheduled to take place next week on Ellis Island. There are a high number of immigrants who work in jobs that rely on income from tipped wages.

A spokesman for the governor said they're looking forward to receiving the department's determination on the tipped minimum wage.

If the department makes a decision based on fiscal studies and the input from its hearings, Restaurant Opportunities Center campaign manager David Palmer is confident that the tipped wage will go up.

"The evidence shows that one fair wage would be good for workers," he said. "If this doesn't move, it seems it would have to be more based on politics than facts."

Much of the opposition has been funded by an alliance of restaurants, which has raised the possibility that their industry might be left out of any increases taken administratively. Instead, the department would single out workers in nail salons and car washes, the way it unilaterally increased wages for fast food workers in 2015.

Last year, Cuomo said the different minimum wages for tipped workers wasn't "working well."

"It hurts immigrants," he said. "Seventy percent of the employees are women. So that's one of the inequities that we're going to be looking at."

Opponents of an increase argue it will lead to a decrease in tips, which will result in a lower take-home pay for workers drive up costs for businesses, which will need to scale back their staff or potentially face closure.